


To Build a Home

by ifandwhenidie



Series: Eden Swinburne [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: AU, Adoption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-11-07 03:46:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11050662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifandwhenidie/pseuds/ifandwhenidie
Summary: Eden didn't think things could get much worse. In fact, this was probably one of the worst cases the team had ever worked, and a kid was right in the middle of it all. Now more than ever, she needs a family, and it's up to the team to take care of her now: an unaccompanied minor with nowhere to go.





	1. In which the countdown begins

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Isaac is played by Augustus Prew, Freddie is played by Avan Jogia and I don't have any actors in mind for the character of Eden so feel free to make it up :))

BAU Quantico, Virginia 

_Reader's POV_

"I'm telling you, man, it's not healthy." Morgan shook his head and narrowed his eyes at Reid, who was eyeing the cafetiere he was holding defensively.

"No, no, pretty boy. Not today. I had a good night last night, and coffee is gonna make sure it doesn't make my day crappy." 

"I'm just saying, your pupils will dilate, you'll be jumpy, you-"

"Reid." Morgan shot him a deadpan glare as the coffee trickled into Morgan's mug, and the younger agent held up his hands and pouted, turning slightly in his chair back to his work. Morgan wandered back to his own desk and took one long victory slurp from his 6th cup of the morning (not counting the seventh from the vendor downstairs or the eigth at home), making it as loud as possible and observing a smirk in the corner of Reid's mouth. And a gasp of mock-disgust from Elle on the next row of desks. Morgan chuckled to himself, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head to the  side- maybe it was the easy flow of happy conversation he shared on the daily with his colleagues, maybe it was the sweet encounter with Harriette-Just-Visiting-From-French-Canada last night, maybe it was the fact he had slipped two files onto Reid's pile whilst he wasn't looking. Whatever it was, it pleased Morgan,, and he felt gradually overcome with contempt. 

As far as days go, today had started out relatively quiet; the occasional jab at Reid from Morgan's side, the quick retaliation that really didn't fight the younger agent's corner, and the scalding from Elle. JJ had piled up the files on their desks that morning, and they were wading their way through them as always.

It had been a relatively uneventful week; no cases deemed serious enough to warrant jet fuel or road trips, and so the bullpen had been active and busy with a full house. It had been steady and uninterrupted routine for the past week or two at least: come in, be busy, get lunch, be busy, mock Reid, report to Hotch- maybe even receive some words of wisdom from Gideon around 4 o'clock on the rare days he left his office other than to use the bathroom or get a refill of coffee, and then home time. It was a standard operation and all of the agents knew they were enjoying the calm while it lasted. That was always the way it was here- there was always a storm to follow. What that storm entailed nobody truly knew until it was over, and it was never not a danger to head into, but even the 25-year-old doctor Reid could handle even the toughest situations. 

Morgan reclined in his chair thoughtfully. 

 

It wasn't much of a surprise, then, when Hotch and Gideon strode through the glass double doors, Garcia quickstepping behind them. Hotch's glare was stony and unrevealing as usual, and Garcia jittery and deer-like as always, but Gideon's paled expression made it evident they had a case, and the case was bad.

"BAU, conference room. Now." Hotch barked. Barely a second passed before the three pushed themselves up from their seats and moved quickly across the bullpen and up the stairs.JJ had already left her office and had slipped into the conference room, and Morgan, Reid and Greenaway darted from their chairs towards stairs after the two senior agents and their tech analyst.

Morgan's coffee sat forgotten on top of a spiral bound  notebook.Fund games was over now, and the skies had become grey. Electricity was in the air,, and they all felt it. Everyone was in go-mode now. 

 

"Harry Edmunds and Travis Fells were discovered dead three and two weeks ago respectively." Garcia began once seats had been taken, two drivers license mugshots flashing up on the screen. "Both were buried in unmarked graves and..." She trailed off, her face slowly losing color. It wasn't often something prompted Garcia to stop talking, yet the case had obviously affected her and the room seemed to tense further. Her eyes flitted to the floor and she hopped uncomfortably from foot to foot as she grasped for words, making small gurgling noises with the back of her throat. Hotch mercifully took it was his cue to speak. 

"Both men had been hung drawn and quartered, and their insides burned out." He sat forward in his chair and finished. Garcia nodded and two more images flashed up on screen. To his right, Derek felt Elle tense up, and even found himself feeling slightly ill looking at the images presented to him. Reid audibly swallowed. 

It wasn't often the team was presented with such a graphic case. The corpses were both beginning to decay, every pore of their skin seemingly clogged with the dirt they had been buried in, and yet the unmistakable black charring was still visible on the organs protruding, swollen, from their slashed torsos.

Their arms had been brought to their chests and crossed, and the first had a flower tucked into his shirt pocket as a close up picture showed; the second had the same type of flower peeking out from under the neck of his vest.

"Two weeks ago?" Morgan heard Reid's voice pipe up. "They're calling us now?" His voice wasn't as accusatory as the question might've suggested, rather questioning, and he clasped his hands together. 

"They _thought_ they had it covered." Was the reply from JJ, who was standing on the other side of the monitor, her arms crossed. "The victims were white males in their mid to late forties, they had a victim preference to work with. They thought they could handle it." 

"What changed?" Elle asked. 

"Two more victims were discovered in the early hours of this morning."

"Escalation?"

"I don't think so. The first body is over 2 months old." Hotch replied.

Drivers licences and crime scene photos replaced those there before. "This time it was a black male in his thirties and a woman in her twenties. Like I said, they thought they had it covered."

This crime scene was different: the male had been dug up by the forensics and he too was sporting the crossed arms and flowers, as with standard form. His ethnicity changed the profile completely as it is, however despite his much more advanced state of decomposition it was the second body intrigued the room the most. She was face down in the dirt, her legs splayed out beside her in the mud and one arm outstretched, the other folded uncomfortably under her chest. No flowers were to be seen, and there was a small mound of dirt next to her body where digging had begun.  

"Something happened. The unsub was spooked." Reid offered, and Gideon nodded. 

"The woman's body was warm when the cops arrived. A group of hikers called 911 but they say the site was already deserted when they got there." 

"It's interesting, I'm looking at the pictures of the burial and although at a first glance it could be seen as remorse, combined with the overkill of burning the victims' organs and the way the victims had their arms crossed and the flowers, I'd say the scene looks almost sadistic." Reid noted. 

"A satirical homicide." Gideon observed. 

"Do we have a positive ID on the bodies?" Elle asked. 

"Neither had any form of identification on them." JJ replied. 

"I've checked missing persons databases too, and nothing in the Virginia area matches this description. I could widen my search, but-" Garcia was cut off by a sudden interjection.

"Wait, Virginia?" Elle was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of this being so close to home. She shuffled awkwardly in her seat, and even Derek found himself a little shocked. It wasn't often they had a case they didn't need to fly out for.

"Yep. No wheels up for us this time, the bodies were found on the golf course less than 20 minutes from here." Gideon replied. 

"We're going to be set up here- for now at least. Reid, Greenaway, I want you two to go down to the precinct and speak with the hikers. JJ, the media are already aware but we don't want any false judgements or misleading comments so I want you to prepare a press statement for this afternoon. Morgan, you're with me and Gideon down at the crime scene." 

 

********

 

Dumfries, Virginia 

_Eden_

I could hear breakfast before I could smell it. Or rather, to put it clearly, I was rudely awakened from a familiar voice yelling "fuck!" outside my bedroom door. The apartment was small, and it was both a vice and a virtue having the kitchen right next to your room: you can hear everything but the smell is great. 

"In case you forgot, there's a child in the house." I yelled groggily in the general direction of the door. Isaac's voice sung out in reply,

"I'm making you breeeakfast, you better deal with it or no eggs for Gretchen Weiners." The child-cum-Mean Girls character was, of course, myself, but the man in the next room five years my senior often acted like a nine year old.

Clinging to the remnants of sleep still within me, I waited until I could hear the sliding of the plates against each other before I climbed out of bed, rubbing my eyes and glancing at the clock. 7:13 meant I still had plenty of time to eat, get ready and blackmail Isaac into driving me to school again- once you've known a person for a certain amount of time, emotional blackmail was easy. He had already served up the portions by the time I had found my fluffy socks and pulled them on, and he greeted me with a squeeze round my shoulders with one arm. "Morning my little nuisance." 

"Good morning, bane of my existence." I replied. "Three plates?" I observed, blinking at the bacon and eggs on the breakfast bar. It was then that I heard the shower, and slowly realised Freddie had stayed the night again. " _on a school night?_ " I jested, pushing Isaac in his side. "Honestly, he might as well live here." I quipped casually, sitting down on the opposite side other bar and digging my fork into the eggs. Before Isaac could reply, my brother's boyfriend emerged from the bathroom, casually, in a towel. 

"Morning, Eden." He chided, reaching past me to team a slice of toast. I smiled in reply but as his hand got closer to me I reflexively ducked out of the way, my heart missing a beat. I tried to play it off and reached for a slice, too but I watched in my peripheral vision as Isaac stilled.

He wasn't going to go into it, though. Life's too short to go into one about how _We're Safe Now_ and _There's No Need To Be Like That_ whenever I refused to let anyone other than Iss touch me, or freaked out at loud noises in the hall, or double triple checked all the locks or had to come home from school because I had thrown up for no goddamn reason other than  _people._

Isaac knew that talking about it all the time didn't really help. He felt bad enough- it was his own father who was to blame, after all, but we were in silent agreement that we were going to try our hardest to leave everything in the past.

I waited until Freddie was out of earshot before hastily changing the unspoken subject,

"So are you gonna propose or what?" Mock-exhaustion dripped from my tone. Isaac raised his coffee mug to his lips and winked at me as he took a long, slurping gulp, and I snorted. 

 

"Thanks for this." Isaac smiled over at Freddie in reply.

"Any time." He grinned, patting Freddie on the thigh.

I made fake retching sounds.

"Shut it, Eden!" Isaac flopped his hand around the back of the car to try and hit me and I squirmed out of the way, laughing. "Here we are." Freddie kissed Isaac briefly and offered me a small wave before jumping out of the car and heading up to his block of flats. I climbed into the front seat and Isaac drove on. 

"I have a bio test today." I told him. 

"Hm." He replied. "I would ask if you've studied but it's not like you need to." I grinned. We drove on in comfortable silence before Isaac piped up, "You know, you could've gone to MIT..." I fidgeted in my seat and replied,

"Drop it, Iss. I want to stay in Virginia. I'm fourteen, for god's sake." I replied, annoyed. "I can't just go off to college all by myself."

"I know. I love you and everything, but you know if I would've dropped everything and come with you. MIT, Harvard, Yale, you name it. I'd be there, and you know it." 

"And _you_ know I wouldn't let you just uproot and leave your whole life behind just for me. We're settled here, and I'm sick of moving. After living in NC I just wanted..." 

"Yeah, I know." Isaac finished.  _Things to be better. Normal._  I picked at the skin on my bottom lip. "I just want you to know that I would. You know. Move for you. We're a team now, right?" I knew what he was trying to say. Isaac wasn't really one for feelings, he had been hardened and weathered against them. But I knew he was trying now that we were away from Him, away from NC, and I shot him a smile of thanks and he pulled me awkwardly into a hug one armed hug. 

 

"Good luck today." Isaac waved out of the car window as he drove off. I waved back and headed into school. 

Dumfries High wasn't the best school in the world. Nothing was exceptional about it. Kids came in, kids came out. Kids dropped classes, kids got bumped into honours. Kids failed, kids skipped three years and were taking their finals in less than 7 months time.

And were totally not freaking out about it.

And, as it seemed as I rounded the corner, some- particularly of the latter category- had gum on their locker again. I tried not to look at the gross, wet ball of passive aggressiveness as I opened my locker and retrieved my books and folders. One thing about being the youngest kid in the 12th grade is to expect people to hate you for no reason- it's an unspoken way of life, and it came with a whole variety of Being Treated Differently that you have to just accept. I'm pretty sure half the kids who tripped me up, posted notes through the vents in my locker or even gave me a split lip one time have never even talked to me before, but if there's one thing I've learnt it's that you shouldn't question it. You'll get nowhere from that, and you'll waste too much time slipping down into a deadly spiral of bad thinking. We'd left our parents two years ago to avoid that kind of stuff, and I was dead set on not letting anything follow me up from there. 

 

********

 

BAU Quantico, Virginia

_Aaron_

It was after midday when everything started kicking off. Things had been relatively slow to begin with- Spencer and Elle had returned with nothing from the hikers, the crime scene offered nothing other than the fact that the unsub was strong (there were no tyre tracks and the unsub would've had to carry the victims all that way- it was evident he was more Derek Morgan than Spencer Reid). Only the autopsy report offered something helpful- the victims were dead before they had been burned, and their CoD was manual strangulation, not hanging as we had originally believed. 

Everyone was working silently. Reid was standing with his arms crossed staring at one of the bulletins, Elle was pouring over a map of the terrain, Morgan was making preparations for ground searches and JJ was juggling talking to families and fielding questions from the news teams she had just delivered a statement to. Gideon had decided to tag along with JJ to pay visits to the families' households. 

My mind wandered to Hayley. Sure, I felt bad about leaving her. My heart aches knowing she could go into labour at any second, but the closeness of the case brought some kind of relief to me, regardless of how busy I am. Maybe I could make it home for leftovers? I'm sure there's some casserole in the fridge. Or I could pick up a takeout on the way home.

My stomach grumbled.

"Are we ready for a profile?" I asked, ducking my head into the conference room. 

"We're still working. Give it another half hour." Morgan replied, glancing up briefly from his notepad. I nodded and turned to return to my office. I made a mental note to call JJ when i got there.

That was when everything happened all at once. 

"They've found three more bodies." Gideon started as he backed me up into the conference room. I blinked. Morgan stood up and began dialing his phone. Reid turned on his heel and began to rummage through his bag. I threw myself into action.

"How old?"

"Three, eight and fourteen days respectively. The canine team found them less than 300 meters from the latest dump site. No positive IDs just yet."  

"There's more." JJ said, entering behind Gideon. Morgan put down his phone and JJ held one of the chairs, leaning into it. "The households Gideon and I visited? There's a link. They all contain obvious signs of abuse. Physical, verbal, I mean," she took a breath. Reid furrowed his eyebrows in my peripheral vision and scribbled something down. "we thought it was overkill but this unsub clearly has reason to justify it." Before I had time to even process the connection, Garcia trotted into the room. 

"I've linked the victims. So far we have a positive ID on the four discovered before just now, and they all have criminal records, none of them look good." 

"What do they say?" I asked keeping my glare stoic and fixed. 

"They all point to some kind of abuse. Um," Garcia flashed four documents onto the monitor and we squinted at them, trying to pick out little details. "Obviously they don't have a charge in common, per se, but I mean, domestic violence, possession, aggravated assault, GBH.. it all points to an abusive alpha personality." 

"Is that going to hold up in court for any warrants?" Elle asked, but she already knew the answer and we collectively shook our heads.

"All of the victims had children in their care too." JJ added. 

"Hotch, it all points to the victimology of child abusers. We have a motive." Morgan set down his pen and leant back in his seat, passing a hand across his face. I cleared my throat, and it took every ounce of strength to stay rigid as emotion tried to pull at my concentration, my mind momentarily flitting back to everything my brother and I had gone through.

"If the unsub knew that the victims were child abusers, that means he thought the killings were justifiable." I paused and collected my thoughts before continuing. "We need a stressor. These types of killings don't just start. Garcia-" 

"Agent Hotchner." A flustered officer appeared at the door, and I shot him a questioning look. I recognised him as one of the officers working the case from the crime scene. "We have a witness." I barely had time to hesitate before I shot Gideon a look that said _you're in charge_ and ushered him out of the door, turning briefly only to add to the team, 

"I want to deliver the profile in 10. Try and have everything ready by then. Morgan." The agent lept from his seat and followed me from the room. "I need you to go to the precinct and get a description from the witness. I need a sketch artist and I need you to get JJ to arrange another press conference." I stopped outside my office and let Morgan follow the officer out of the bullpen. Without even trying, I found myself in my office with the door closed, sitting in my chair with my head in my hands. 

A rare moment of Brain freeze. 

_"Aaron! Where are you? Don't play games with me, boy." I cowered a little further in the spot under the table I was crouched in. My knees were brought up to my chest, and my eyes were screwed shut, as I heard the footsteps get closer. I willed my heavy breathing not to give up my position, but the footsteps were too close now. Suddenly, the overpowering smell of liqueur filled my nostrils and a huge, meaty hand gathered the front of my t-shirt into a ball as I was yanked from my hiding place._

_"I told you," the voice growled in my face, my eyes still screwed shut tight, "to RESPECT YOUR ELDERS." my back hit the cold floor and my head hit against the carpet, and I whimpered in pain._

_"I'm sorry, daddy!" I cried out, but he had me up again by my throat._

_"Oh," he said, his hot breath in my ear. "You're gonna be sorry when I'm done with you."_

_"Hotch."_

_"Hotch!"_

i snapped out of it. Gideon and Reid were standing in the doorframe. "We've got the profile ready." I glanced at the clock and nodded. 

It was child abusers cases that got me. Everyone had a particular type of case that affected them- Reid was often left quieted by schizophrenia and psychosis cases, JJ was particularly hit by cases involving kids dying- we all had our reasons.

I tried to block it out the first time I faced that sort of flashback, but it always left me pent up and aggressive by the end of the case, which didn't sit right with me- or Hayley for that matter. So now I just let it happen. You can't let the past define where you're going. I refuse to. I let it have its moments, I let my mind wander, and then I bring myself back. The team need me. The people dying need me. Their families need me. That's the kind of mindset you need to be in. 

Gideon was still standing at the door. "I know we're not supposed to profile each other, but you're leaving yourself like an open book with Penelope Garcia style paper." He made his way toward the desk and brought himself in front of me. "You're bright pink and covered in gel pen and heart stickers, Hotch." I could tell he was trying to make light of the situation, but I was still disgruntled. Gideon was a talented profiler, but who's to say the others couldn't see me struggling too? The dynamics of the team would be thrown, and in situations like this I can't let that happen. "You're allowed emotions, Aaron."

"You're right." I replied, getting up and heading for the door. "We're not supposed to profile each other." 

 

"The unsub we're looking for is a white male in his mid thirties." JJ held up the sketch from the dog walker who had seen the man sprinting through the forest in the early hours. "We believe he is a long time resident of Virginia, particularly Dumfries, as he knows the golf course of that area well- the crime scene was in a relatively hard to find area and concealed well." 

"We believe he is athletically built and able bodied." Morgan continued. "He is also organised and methodical, as he's evaded detection for at least seven kills." 

"The unsub is likely to have been a victim of child abuse, and has recently either lost or killed the abuser. We believe he would have left the household at an early age but maintained contact with the abuser, and the loss or murder of him or her has triggered the killings to either start or continue." Gideon added. 

"Normally with burials we would expect there to be some kind of remorse," Reid continued, taking his hands out of pockets. "Um, however with the nature of the kill combined with the almost ritualistic way he leaves the bodies, we believe him to be more of a sadist." 

"The city is to be on high alert for this man. We want cop cars patrolling wherever and how ever many they can, and we've opened a hotline." Elle finished, and we took questions. My head hurt. 

************

Dumfries, Virginia 

_Isaac_

 

 I hadn't really expected to spend my days off at home thinking about my little sister. It just kind of happened. The copy of _The Neverending Story_ was long forgotten on the coffee table as I lay sprawled out on the sofa. 

Truth be told, it was painful to watch her jump and flinch whenever people got close to her. She handled it better now, and even had a job, but things like being assaulted don't just vanish from your mind with a change of location of a new school, even if we both knew dad wasn't coming anywhere near us ever again. I shuddered to think of it, of Eden, of how thin she got, of how she clung to me as though she was drowning as she confessed everything. 

Of how fitfully she slept that night as we drove. 

I swallowed and glanced up at the clock. 2:20. I itched my stubble. I could do with a shave, if I'm being honest. But as I stood and began to pad barefoot toward the bathroom, a heavy knock came at the door and I frowned. 

I was greeted with a tall man, no shorter than 6'5, standing in my doorway. I could see his muscles through his shirt. 

"Mr Clare?" Came the voice, a little softer than I'd ever have paired with his body, and my heart skipped a beat.  _Clare._  

"Who's asking?" 

And that's all I remember. 


	2. In which the clock ticks

Hotch pov

The topic of family is sensitive, particularly in our group. The BAU, sure, is supposed to be a fully functioning, stoic and hardcore faction of elites- which is true. Best, of course, none of us would be here right now doing the jobs we do so well, without some kind of deep ingrained past trauma. Spencer's dad walked out on him. Garcia's parents were killed in a car crash. Hell, even Gideon has the tendency to get a glazed over, misty look in his eye whenever the topic comes up.  
But we do our jobs, and we don't even think about getting caught up in emotions. How could we? The dangers of getting too caught up in a case could cost lives. Of course, we all need our releases; Spencer has his books, Gideon has his birds, Morgan flips houses, and it all seems to work perfectly well for them. But me? I thought I could cope with just bottling it up. For years, every case I tackled lay dormant, curled up in my chest like an unsub-monster itself waiting to rear its ugly head and provide me with a complete mental breakdown- or depressive episode, as Reid would correct me unflinchingly.

  
I didn't have a 'thing'. I didn't have anything to pour my time into, to release all this energy I had in some other way. It was bad for me, and it was unfair on Hayley, and we knew it was never going to last if I kept going the same way I was. We fought, we yelled, we gave eachother the silent treatment. We cried. I knew it was down to me. So I started running. At first, only a quick jog around the block every morning for ten, fifteen minutes, but we both saw the results. I was happier, more comfortable in myself, Hayley was happy too, and slowly the monster began to shrink smaller and smaller.

I hadn't noticed how hard I was gripping the steering wheel until I glanced down and saw the whites of my knuckles. The truth is, monster never leaves you it was always there to begin with. It's a part of you, and how you treat yourself affects it- the weight, the ache, the full throb of pent up hatred. I flexed my fingers out and tried to loosten my jaw slightly, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger and parting my lips slightly. I could see Gideon trying not to look concerned in the passenger seat in my peripheral vision. I didn't want him to say anything, and I was beginning to feel guilty about being so quick-tempered with him in the office earlier, but before either of us could react we were at the motel.

  
We had decided to stay overnight in Dumfries in case anything else happened. It was one of those cases that snowballed on itself, and it became completely unpredictable once the golf course was cracked open and the bodies reeled in. There were still teams in the golf course combing through the mud in the crime scenes for anything they might've missed, and driving the extra half hour away from where we needed to be could easily set us back: most of us lives in the general direction of Fredericksburg, towards the south, and we had unanimously elected to stay at the budget motel five minutes from the precinct. Not to mention how the unsub could realise we were on his tail at any point: the FBI being in a small town like Dumfries made big news and they had practically been hounded in the few hundred feet between where the SUVs were parked and the police station doors.

  
I would like to report that the flash photography and open questions were the root of my sudden spike in blood pressure. But, although the team would never hear me say it, I had let the case get to me, and my chest-monster had put on a few pounds.  
"We have some rooms under the name of Gideon for tonight." I heard myself saying to the receptionist.  
"One moment, please." He replied. We stood in silence for a few moments, letting the ambient silence of the small town wash over us and testing the silence for comfort. We both turned on our heel as the doors behind us swung open again, and the rest of the team bound in.

  
"Jamaica?"  
"Yeah Jamaica, you'd love it. The sun, the sea, the hot, hot babes..." I could practically see Derek's eyes twinkling without even looking at him.  
"You know, Jamaica doesn't actually sound that bad. It has fascinating landscapes, the most interesting in my opinion being the Blue Mountains - Blue Mountain Peak is the highest point on the island at 2256 metres, and-" I stopped listening to Reid after that point, as I was sure the rest of the team had, and JJ had already begun to shush him with that soothing tone she uses when she doesn't want to hurt his feelings. JJ doesn't realise, though, that nothing she could say would ever hurt the young doctor's feelings.  
"Reid, you'd hate Jamaica. You'd burn to a crisp." Morgan laughed at my two cents worth. "Mind you, you could do with taking a holiday."

  
The first time I ever met doctor Spencer Reid, he hadn't even finished school yet.

  
<i> "Spencer Reid?" Gideon and I watched as the kid stopped mid-stride and turned on his heel, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. His adams apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously, obviously feeling pretty put on the spot- which was to be expected, the poor kid seemed pretty in his zone as he headed out of the lecture hall.  
"Y-yeah, that's me, who-uh, who's- Jason Gideon?" This time it was Gideon who looked slightly uneasy. "I'm- I'm sorry, I'm just a massive fan of your work with psychology. I'm in the last year of my psychology degree, actually, my PhD-"  
"Doctor Reid, we've been watching you for some time. I've gotta say, kid, I'm a fan of your work, too." I could've smirked then. Jason Gideon, always knowing exactly how to pander to his audience. I didn't doubt that this kid was a genius, or that Gideon had read his papers- I had too, and together we decided that we needed him on our radar, to utilise his abilities. I knew Jason's game, though, and by the red pooling in the sallow cheeks of the 21 year old standing awkwardly, grinning ear to ear and mumbling something about it being nothing, it was working like a charm.

  
Spencer had his first beer that night. The first swig he took sent the corners of his mouth downwards and we both knew that he thought it was disgusting, but he elected to say nothing and sat politely listening to Gideon's prepositions. Visiting the kid in college was probably the best move we could've made for the BAU, and we talked into the early hours of the morning- about the logistics of Spencer coming to work for us, through to reminiscing about old (and older) times Gideon and I had been through ourselves in college. Girls, sports, frat boys and Pavlov's dog (girls didn't interest him, he had never once attended a football game, he steered clear of frat boys and Pavlov's dog was overrated.) Jason laughed at all the right times. Tried to make the kid feel more comfortable around us. The fact was, we knew that Spencer Reid could do so much better than the BAU. We played up to his personality, though: internally shy, modest, missing an adult role model, and slightly damaged. Possibly the brightest 21-year-old I had met. Definitely on the spectrum.  
Spencer turned down the offer of a second beer. </i>

  
"We're going to have to double up." I heard Gideon saying, watching JJ instinctively take Elle's arm. "They were pretty booked up when I called, but I didn't realise-"  
"Come on, pretty boy. No spooning." I heard Derek jab at Reid before taking the second key.  
"I'm pretty sure it's single beds," Reid called after him, and I'm pretty sure I heard him mumble "asshole" under his breath at Derek, and the older agent to nudged him slightly, laughing.

  
I glanced over at Gideon, silently watching him take the last key and following him to the ground floor room we were going to be indefinitely cohabiting.  
"It's only 8 o clock." Gideon's voice pierced the silence surprisingly softly. Truth be told, I was beginning to feel guilty for snapping at him earlier. I understood that he was just being Gideon, trying to understand his world and looking out for those he felt he needed to. I just didn't like feeling like one of those people.  
"Jason-"  
"You wanna go to a bar?"

 

We ended up at a steakhouse five minutes from the motel. It was either that, or a Wendy's which looked like it had seen better (and cleaner) days, and a pub with a broken window with a certain aura to it which made me feel like I would probably end up arresting the entire joint before I finished my first drink.  
We drank soft drinks, we were still (always) on the clock, after all, and Gideon ordered us both t-bones.

  
"I'm just gonna say it." He said after 5 minutes of small talk. I swallowed and uncrossed my heels under my chair, flexing my legs and bracing myself for whatever Gideon was about to throw at me. I could tell by his body language he wanted to talk about earlier, his hands pressed together and his gaze steady, seemingly leaning into his words. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but that's okay. But I know this is a sensitive subject for you."  
"Jason, I really don't think talking about this is going to solve anything."  
"That's purely subjective."  
"Okay, I know it's not going to solve anything." Jason gave me one of his signature 'I know you' looks and I reclined in my chair.  
"Just... I don't want you to think that I think you can't handle this one. Because we've had cases like it before, and just because it's close to home doesn't mean it's different." Gideon blinked once and lent forwards.  
"I respect you, Aaron, and I know that if it ever did get too tough you would pull yourself out of there as soon as you were able to, but in order to trust you I need the same in return." He paused slightly, wetting his lips and shifting slightly in his seat, casting a preliminary glance across the room. "I know you've profiled everyone in the BAU. Same way I know Spencer's done it, Elle's done it, Derek's done it, hell, even JJ's probably given it a shot. What I need from you, is for you to stop acting like you're such a closed book." It was my turn to shift now, and I could feel something akin to anger pulsate in the pit of my stomach. Or was it just me being mad at myself? "You're not some FBI robot, Aaron. You're not some mindless drone from movies who can switch off his emotions to get the job done. That's not how it works, and you know it. You need to allow yourself to think properly about how this one is going to affect you. Because it is. I know that much." He stopped then, and I half expected him to keep going, but instead we sipped our drinks and ate our food and talked about Dumfries.

  
And I reminded him of the first time we met Spencer.

******  
Eden

_Dumfries, Virginia_

"Thanks for the lift, Sam." He grinned back at me, bumping the car into neutral. I had just gotten off a long shift at the clothing store, Retty's, a few blocks away. It was dark, and Iss hadn't answered his phone, so I took a leap and asked Sam which way he was headed.  
"Thanks for doing those goddamn timesheets for me." He replied, scratching the side of his nose sheepishly. "You know paperwork isn't my strong suit."  
"I'll be expecting my bonus in the mail." I grinned and jumped out of the car, dragging my schoolbag after me. I wave at my boss as he drives off down the street, not giving so much as an upwards glance at the murky building that was Morton Lofts.

The first time I saw the building I remember it being beautiful and glorious in comparison to what we had left behind. A small three bedroom semi in the suburbs of Ohio which could barely pass for waterproof and with no air conditioning was Hades enough, and Virginia had already begun to seem like the beginning of something fantastic. I remember taking trips to Ikea with Isaac after every paycheck for the first few months- first for beds, then we managed to find ourselves a discounted couch ("with pillows, Eden!"), and slowly but surely we made the tiny loft feel like we had lived there our entire lives.

 _Isaac!" I grasped at his sleeve, stopping him in his tracks. "Look at this!" He frowned down at me. "Plants, Isaac. We could get plants."_  
_"Do we need plants?"_  
_"Plants are perfect for character in every home. Don't you watch Extreme Home Makeover? I'll buy them." He sighed, exasperated. We had been mooching around in IKEA for an hour and silently  planning our our futures for an hour by that point. The kart had slowly filled with cushions, frames, kitchenware and towels. We looked forward to this time of the month: we tried to go out as much as we could- I'd like to say we did it because we just wanted to, but truth be told we had little motivation at the beginning. We were both working and Isaac was trying to juggle three jobs whilst looking after a 13 year old._

 _I carefully picked out four big, leafy floor plants in white pots and placed them together at the front of the kart. "We could even name them."_  
_"Jesus Christ." Isaac rubbed his eyes._  
_"I don't like that one. We've got plenty of time to think it over, though."_  
_"I didn't mean-"_  
_"I know."_  
_"Oh."_

  
Truth be told, I've never actually had the opportunity to go furniture shopping before. The entire concept seemed alien to me. But somehow, we made it work. Movie posters, lightshades and duvet covers were slowly collected. Kitchen utensils were purchased. A small library grew.

  
Books had always been a secret pleasure of mine. Being a 14 year old who's just about to head off to college needed to start somewhere, and I can remember early days spent in France where I curled up reading anything I could find. I skipped 3 grades a while after we settled in America. I could always speak English fluently without a hint of an accent, and I found myself making progress faster than everyone else with the multilingualism and early love for books giving me at least some sort of headway. The facts just seemed to stick, and the words came easily when it came to putting it on paper. When we came to Dumfries I skipped straight through the tenth grade. It felt like I didn't have a choice, but Dumfries High was much less cold and unforgiving than John Bawer School. I managed to make friends. I got a job. I didn't eat my lunch alone.  
dn't think much of the door being unlocked either, until I realised all the lights in the apartment were out. A Michael Ende paperback was lying on the floor, and Isaac's cell was still on the table.  
"Hello?" I called out. I flipped the light switch, casting a glance around the apartment. It wasn't often Isaac went out and didn't tell me. In fact, I don't I think he had ever done it.  
An evening breeze blew through the open window.

  
I flopped sofa and toed my trainers off, scrolling my phone for Freddie's number.  
"Ah, my favourite brunette." His soft voice poured down the phone after the second ring. "Besides your brother, obviously. It's nothing personal, he's just really hot. What can I do for you?" Freddie's character radiated and I found myself laughing softly as he spoke.  
"Hey. Is Isaac with you?"  
"Isaac? He's not with you?" I swallowed, hard. The all-too familiar feeling of dread crept up on me, like the feeling you get when you're in the dark and you just know something is behind you, no matter how irrational it is. "Eden?" I'd only just realised how heavy my breathing has become. My eyes began to water. I tried to speak, but all that came out was just strained noises. "I'm on my way." The line goes dead.  
I knew Isaac is probably fine. I knew. I knew. I know. My heart rate quickens. I could feel the end of my fingers going numb and I closed my eyes, trying to even out my breaths. I didn't even know I had left the door open until I felt the couch dip next to me and Freddie's voice bring me slowly back to reality. He didn't try to touch me, but he pressed a glass of water into my hand and I took a gulp of it.  
"I'm so sorry." I whispered into the silence to Freddie.  
"I'm a nurse, and you're my sister in law. Almost. I'm not just gonna leave you alone, not when that idiot brother of yours has gone AWOL." I turned to him. "You really haven't heard from him?" I shook my head.  
"You?"  
"Not since he dropped me off this morning."  
"Are we going to have to call the cops?" Freddie scratched his thigh through his jeans and swallowed, his adams apple bobbing. He pushed his hair behind his ear before replying.  
"I..." He cleared his throat and cocked his head slightly before continuing, "I think it's a good idea to let them know, and... I'll stay here tonight to make sure you're okay." I felt like crying. I hadn't been alone with Freddie before. I hadn't been alone overnight before, and I wasn't sure whether Freddie being here made it better or worse. Because the truth is, I couldn't trust him. He was a stranger to me, even though I had known him for a year. Something inside me didn't want me to allow it. It wanted me to put up a struggle. I ignored the something as best I could and took another gulp.  
"Dumfries VA. Police. Yes. I'd like to file a missing persons report. Isaac-" I sniffed and waved my hand at him.  
"No, it's not." Freddie pulled a face.  
"Hold on, one second. His sister knows more than me." He handed me his flip phone. I took a deep breath told them all I knew.

*****  
Gideon

_Dumfries, Virginia_

"Yes. I got it."  
"Good. I'm not sticking to some profile you wizards have magically conjured up. It ain't facts." I cringed.  
"This profile has been pieces together by some of the top FBI agents of the country."  
"I don't care if the president himself hand delivered it to you in a golden envelope. If you're going to come into my jurisdiction and mess about with my force, you're going to work under my ru-" I hung up the phone. Aaron was smirking at me from the other side of the room as I shoved my phone into my pocket and glanced up. "What?"  
"Nothing. Nope, nothing at all, Jason. In fact, that was great. Really. Just, fantastic." He laughs and lies back in his bed, his hands under his head and his legs kicked out in a v. "Honestly, if anyone was going to hand Coffey's ass to him, I expected it to be you. Verbally, of course. You're quite the predictable man, Jason." I didn't try and protest this, because the truth was, I had made it quite known within the last day- and even moreso in the past five minutes- that I hated Harry Coffey's ass with a passion and I had barely known the man more than 12 hours.

  
I mimicked Aaron and laid back on my bed too. We both knew that there was unfinished business between us, and I knew that I had to wait until Aaron was completely off guard to broach the subject again.  
"I want to talk to you about earlier-"  
"Jesus Christ, Jason, really? Can you not just let me have this moment? It's 10:30, I'm exhausted, I-"  
"How old were you when your dad started hitting you?" Aaron stilled. It took him a good 30 seconds to respond, but it felt like an hour had passed before he cleared his throat.  
"Seven." He had given in.  
"Still quite malleable." Before I had a chance to continue, Aaron interjected,  
"What are you gonna say, Jason? 'I'm glad you didn't become a serial killer'? 'Good job surviving'? I'm a grown man."  
"Doesn't matter."  
"It does, okay?" His voice was softer this time. "I've... I've dealt with it. Hell, I wouldn't be in the BAU in the first place if I hadn't." I pouted in agreement. "Everyone has their days. Everyone has those cases. Everyone, Jason, is a professional. And that's what you need to understand." He said, deadpan.  
"Ho, jeez, Aaron. You think I don't get that? I hired your ass! I just want you to talk to me friend to friend, not about sports for once." I could practically hear Aaron contemplating.  
"Sometimes it just comes back up." I left the silence vacant as we both stared casually at the ceiling. "I have a little scar on the back of my leg, you know. I was thirteen years old, and Sean was only a little toddler. He had been left all day by himself, and had somehow opened all the ringpulls on a sixer which had been left on the kitchen floor- I knew that... I knew dad was gonna come after him. He was only three years old, for god's sake. So I took the blame." I listened to Hotch's breathing. I heard him swallow heavily and my heart renched slightly, realising just how much he was opening himself up to me. "It needed 6 stitches. I didn't care about that though. I almost didn't feel it after so much of the same shit day in, day out. It was relentless, Jason. The man was a violent alcoholic. But... Do you know what's crazy? I felt sorry for the bastard. I actually felt sorry for the man who used to make me choose between the belt or his fists."

  
We lay there for a while after that. I knew I had said all I needed to say, and Hotch was on the same page. We were both in some level of catharsis, I was feeling satisfied within myself that I had managed to clear some of the airways and chiselled away some more of the steely, FBI robot suit Aaron had fashioned for himself. I lay awake until I heard his breathing even out- whether or not he was asleep, I didn't know, but we had both shifted under the covers and had decidedly finished with the day.

  
It was about 1:00am when my phone rang again. We were jolted out of our light slumbers where we had dozed uncomfortably on top of the blankets, as if predicting the inevitable moment we would have to jump back up again.  
"Gideon."  
"Sir, we've just had a missing persons report from the Dumfries area." I groaned and rubbed my eye with the ball of my fist. Hotch was already sitting up facing me, stretching his legs out in front of him and glancing around for his tie and jacket. I frowned, slowly coming to recognise the words that had just been said to me. Then, I realised.  
"A missing... a missing persons report? This is a murder enquiry. What's that got to do with us?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suspense! What's a missing persons report got to do with the BAU's investigation? 
> 
> Sorry this is dragging a bit. I'm trying to put in some detail. I promise all will become clear in the next chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> HELLOOO!!! I've had this fic idea going round in my head for MONTHS now and I have no idea how it's going to go or if it's going to continue, we shall wait and see. Please let me know if you're enjoying it!  
> I'm probably gonna edit this in the next few days but I'm posting it now to have it up anyways, it's just a bit of a taster chapter for me anyways ♥️


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